McCritchie is a kung fu instructor and chiropractor in Winnipeg, but now he is too fatigued to teach and too weak to perform the physical effort required for his job. He continued to lose weight, mystifying his general practitioner, who suspected he might have cancer. The Birmingham acetabular cups and femoral heads he'd had implanted in 2008 were recalled in 2015 due to a high revision rate, years before they'd be removed from McRitchie's body. The resurfacing system McRitchie got in 2006 was recalled from the market in 2009. Unbeknownst to McRitchie, Health Canada issued a warning about metal-on-metal hips in 2012 - about five years before his symptoms began - highlighting the very problems he was experiencing.Īs the metal ball and socket of the implants move against each other, they can release metal ions, which can accumulate in soft tissues or in the blood. He lost his appetite and about 30 pounds. He suffered excruciating bouts of insomnia and was constantly exhausted. He started to get sharp migrating pain throughout his legs that no one could explain. Over time it ramped up and ramped up and ramped up, and I never could really figure out why I was having these problems." Warning, recalls "It was very low-level stuff and it started to creep up. "Things slowly started to go wrong," he said. Today, after several litigations against manufacturers, 13 product recalls in Canada and complications causing revisions in thousands of patients, metal-on-metal implants only account for about one per cent of hip surgeries done in Canada, according to Health Canada, which is also conducting its own review of the devices.Īt first, McRitchie's new hips lived up to their hype for several years, he felt great and could move again. McRitchie is a kung fu instructor and chiropractor in Winnipeg, but now he is too fatigued to teach and too weak to perform the physical effort required for his job.Ī metal-on-metal hip implant, like the ones McRitchie had replaced. I feel that I need a beach to lay on for a year. It's a little bit of a hit to your force field shields," said McRitchie. The complication was flagged by countries with mandatory joint registries several years before Mcritchie had his removed. Neil McRitchie, 62, suffered rare adverse reactions - metallosis and systemic effects of cobalt and chromium poisoning - from the corrosion of his metal-on-metal hip devices, which are made up of a metal ball and cup. The problems with metal-on-metal hip implants have prompted calls from Canada's orthopedic surgeons for mandatory participation from all provinces in a national joint replacement registry. A Winnipeg athlete's hip surgery was supposed to transform his life, but led instead to a nightmare of pain and illness that hasn't let up.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |